


climb aboard, explorers

by inmylife



Series: i'll find you [1]
Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Angst, Family, M/M, blame kira for making me actually write this, i know i know im huge 2hyun trash BUT, i mean i know bugi's a ditz but ANYWAY, i really do not think jr could be dory or whatever dory's equivalent in this au is, jaehwan fits the au better so its minhwan oops, jinyoung is minhyun's kid, no one goes missing i promise, this is lowkey based off finding nemo, this will most likely end up a series as well YIKES, too many headcanons dammit!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-07 13:43:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13435956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inmylife/pseuds/inmylife
Summary: it's jinyoung's first day of school and minhyun is worried.





	climb aboard, explorers

"Appa! Appa, wake up!"

 

Minhyun blinks his eyes open sleepily as his five-year-old son pushes at his shoulder.

 

"Appa, it's my first day of school! Wake up, I don't want to be late."

 

Oh. Right.

 

Minhyun is nervous about sending his child, his _only_ , off to kindergarten for the first time. Something - anxiety? - presses in his stomach at the thought. But the day is here, and as much as Minhyun wants to hide back under the covers and hide Jinyoung with him, he can't refuse his son anything, and Jinyoung does really want to go to school.

 

"You're right," Minhyun sighs finally, sitting up. "We can't be late." Minhyun is that person who's notoriously on time for everything - early, if at all possible. He's type A to the core, it can't be helped. He gets out of bed himself and then helps Jinyoung off, making sure his son is steady before letting go. "You got dressed yourself! Oh, that's awesome, that saves us some time. Right?" Jinyoung nods, satisfied with himself in a way that only an elementary schooler can be. "Let appa get dressed, and then we can have some breakfast and go," he assures Jinyoung.

 

His son grins and leaves. "I'm gonna go get my bag together!" he enthuses, practically bouncing up and down with excitement. Minhyun nods and sits down on his bed again.

 

God. It's proof both of how much Minhyun's rubbed off on his son and of how excited Jinyoung is that Jinyoung is checking over his backpack himself. He laughs a little. It's bitter.

 

Ok, screw it, Minhyun is actually really very terrified, because Jinyoung is the one person he cares about most in the world, and he's five and an adult in a child's body, and he uses crutches to walk, and he's shy around new people, and he won't defend himself if someone's mean to him or say anything if he's uncomfortable, and…

 

and Minhyun can't lose him. At the end of the day, that's all Minhyun is really scared of, is losing him.

 

But he hears Jinyoung talking to himself from the living room, he knows his son really wants to make friends because he'd been such a loner in preschool, he knows that if he messes this up for Jinyoung he really will lose his child in a completely different way. So Minhyun gets dressed, runs a comb through his hair, somehow manages to find his wallet (as clean as his house is, this is the one thing he consistently misplaces), and ends up in the kitchen.

 

Minhyun smiles down at his son. "I'm going to check your bag in just a second," he says. "Are you sure everything's ready?" He gets out some strawberries and begins slicing them on a wooden cutting board that had been a Christmas gift from Aron a few years back to serve as Jinyoung's breakfast.

 

"I'm sure!" Jinyoung chirps. "Appa appa appa you should hurry _up_ , I want to be early!"

 

"I know," Minhyun laughs. "You're just like me. Early is on time, on time is late - "

 

"And late is unacceptable," Jinyoung finishes with him.

 

"I'm trying to be quick," Minhyun reassures him. "But if I go too fast I'll hurt myself with the knife, and as important as it is to be on time it's even more important to be safe, right?" Jinyoung nods. "So please _please_ be patient. I know you can do it."

 

Minhyun's faith in him might be a little misplaced, because Jinyoung hovers by him until the strawberries are in a bowl and he's sat down at the table. Minhyun opens Jinyoung's schoolbag and rifles through it, going over the checklist the school had mailed him that he's read so many times now he's committed it to memory. He has everything he needs. Bless the kid. Being a parent is hard but being Jinyoung's parent is a hell of a lot easier.

 

Five minutes later they get in the car and they're on their way. Minhyun turns on the radio because, well… it's too quiet if there's nothing in the background, even if one of them is talking. The news station is on low, though, because Minhyun would rather concentrate on Jinyoung's voice.

 

"... and I really hope that Song-seonsaengnim is nice and that we, uhm. That we read really good books in the class when we learn how to read! And that my classmates like me. They'll like me, right?"

 

"Of course they will," Minhyun reassures him. Then he tunes out again. As much as he loves the sound of his son's voice he's too jittery right now to concentrate on what Jinyoung is actually saying.

 

They pull up in the parking lot far too soon. Minhyun's hands are shaking on the wheel, and once he's out of the car he shoves them in his pockets to hide them. Jinyoung doesn't need to know he's scared.

 

He'll be fine. He will be. Minhyun has to believe that.

 

There's kids playing on the playground already. They're there ten minutes earlier than they were supposed to be but apparently these other kids were even earlier than that. From what Minhyun knows, all these other kids are kindergartners like Jinyoung, school having started for the older kids half an hour ago.

 

A woman around his age approaches him with a clipboard. "Hi, I'm Song Heejin. Is your kid in my class or is he in Eunyoung unnie's?"

 

"He's in yours, Heejin-ssi," Minhyun nods.

 

"I'm Jinyoung! Are you my teacher?" he asks, looking up at the woman.

 

"Yep, that's me!" She smiles. "You're Bae Jinyoung? Nice to meet you, I'm excited to be your teacher this year."

 

"I'm excited too!" Jinyoung grins. "Appa, can I go play?" He looks over longingly to the playground where ten or so other kids are running around on the jungle gym.

 

"I…" Minhyun is apprehensive. He doesn't want Jinyoung getting hurt or made fun of.

 

"Come on." Jinyoung looks at him, nonplussed. "It's that or sit at the tables. Please, appa?"

 

"Fine," he sighs, relenting, and the grin on Jinyoung's face is almost enough to make up for the worry. Almost.

 

"Bae-ssi?" Heejin asks, and it takes a moment to realize she's talking to him.

 

"Oh, I - no, it's Hwang, my surname is Hwang." She looks a little confused. "He's adopted, it's his birth surname."

 

"Ah. I just… is he your first kid?"

 

"Only kid," he elaborates.

 

"He's going to be fine," Heejin reassures him. "It's normal to be worried."

 

Minhyun looks over. Jinyoung is approaching a boy and a girl drawing with chalk on the asphalt next to the jungle gym. He looks a little unsure of himself - which is in character. Minhyun puts Jinyoung's enthusiasm towards meeting his teacher and approaching others down to his excitement.

 

"I just - " He turns back to Heejin and everything mounts. "He's really quiet sometimes and he's never had friends his age and if he's uncomfortable he won't say anything so if he's slowing down you have to _tell_ him to take a break and, uh, I feel like I'm forgetting something, he's allergic to shrimp? And I - "

 

"Minhyun-ssi."

 

"Yeah?"

 

"He will be fine. It is my job to keep him safe. He will be fine." Another family walks up, father and mother and son, and suddenly Heejin is turning - "Seungcheol-ssi, Yuna-ssi, is this Bomin then?" - and the mother is responding - "Yes, the last of the four of them, the day has finally come" - and Heejin is checking off the kid and Minhyun goes to leave but then -

 

"Minhyun-ssi?"

 

"Yes?"

 

"He really will be alright."  

 

Minhyun has trouble believing her.

 

-

 

He's taken the day off from work, in theory because Jinyoung's drop-off time for the first day of school interferes with his hours, but in practice because he wouldn't be able to concentrate at work anyway. Minhyun finds himself on a bench five minutes' drive away, head in his hands, because _what the hell just happened_.

 

He honestly can't believe he's done this, gone and put his child out in the world even if it's in the care of someone who _seems_ safe, because this woman is someone Minhyun doesn't know, it's not like daycare because Dongho runs the daycare and he's known Minhyun since high school. Minhyun is scared, he's scared scared scared because _what if something happens_ -

 

Jinyoung didn't even say goodbye.

 

Minhyun looks up and there's a guy next to him looking concerned.

 

"Hey, dude, you okay? You seem pretty upset."

 

"I can't believe I just did that."

 

"Hey, hey. Get out of your head, look at me. Eye contact." Minhyun obliges. "I'm Jaehwan. What's your name?"

 

"Minhyun."

 

"Okay, Minhyun-ssi. Can you talk to me about what's wrong?"

 

And Minhyun does. He tells Jaehwan about coming out, about losing his parents. About meeting Jonghyun and their plans to start a family together and the awful, awful incident that had killed Jonghyun and Jinyoung's twin sister on their way home from the hospital - the incident that had completely ruined Jinyoung's mobility and Minhyun's entire soul. About his own type A tendencies that had been exaggerated after Jonghyun's death, about seeing his baby, the only thing he had left, hooked up to all those machines… about sending his child off to school and being scared, so scared, that something would happen to him.

 

Jaehwan listens. About halfway through he puts an arm around Minhyun and pulls him close. And when Minhyun finishes, Jaehwan gets this determined look on his face and says, "alright, Minhyun-ssi. I'm going to go buy you lunch, because food makes everything better." Minhyun lets the other man pull him up, walk him to a restaurant, all the while talking about random things and cracking jokes to himself that Minhyun doesn't listen to. It's a Thai restaurant - Jonghyun had loved Thai food and Minhyun hadn't been able to eat it in the five years since so he feels like he's about to start crying like he did on the bench earlier but he isn't about to ask Jaehwan to go someplace else - a little hole in the wall, the kind of place people would never come to unless they'd been told. It's nice in there, all the tables are full but one so they don't have to wait long to sit.

 

"How old are you, Minhyun-ssi?"

 

"Twenty-seven," he answers.

 

"Oh, I'm twenty-six," responds Jaehwan. "Guess you're hyung to me, then."

 

"Yeah."

 

When it's time to order Minhyun's heart almost stops but he forces himself to get the coriander noodles Jonghyun had liked. Jaehwan definitely notices Minhyun's emotional reaction to the food but he doesn't press it. Minhyun likes that.

 

Jaehwan keeps talking about himself. So far, Minhyun has learned that Jaehwan is pansexual, really likes singing, has friends who don't appreciate his sense of humor, he's an only child, he likes soccer, and he can play the guitar. That's a lot of information. Minhyun is less giving - when he opens up, it's about Jinyoung, and it's when they're almost done their food. Then again, he had bared his soul to Jaehwan earlier, so he supposes it's only fair for Jaehwan to do the talking now.

 

Minhyun also learns that Jaehwan is a perennially broke professional singer who's painfully behind on his rent. He does not want to ask Jaehwan to stay with them, nope, totally doesn't.

 

Lunch ends and Jaehwan walks with Minhyun back to get his car. "I was just going to go home," he explains to Minhyun. "I mean, I might have gone grocery shopping, maybe, but that's like… it. So if you still need a distraction…"

 

Minhyun nods. "That would be great, actually."

 

"Awesome! We're going to the mall, then, I need to buy a birthday present for my friend because his birthday was like a month ago and I never got around to actually doing that."

 

"Yikes," comments Minhyun.

 

So they go to the mall, and they spend far too much time in the bookstore. Then they buy pretzels, laughing at the frustrated cashier who had scolded her coworkers in between taking their order. Then Minhyun checks his phone and realizes that he has to pick up Jinyoung in twenty minutes.

 

"I'm so sorry, Jaehwan-ssi - do you need me to take you home? Do you live on the way?"

 

"You can drop me off after," Jaehwan tells him. "I live pretty far away, and, uh. I don't mind coming with. I like kids. And you've told me so much about Jinyoung already."

 

"As long as it's fine with you," Minhyun says, hesitant, but they're already getting in the car and Minhyun sets his GPS to Gaeui Bada Elementary School without further discussion.

 

They get to school and, nervous, Minhyun just sort of lets Jaehwan talk at him until the kids finally come out the door. Jinyoung doesn't come out for a moment and Minhyun starts to panic - until Jinyoung walks out, chatting with a girl from his class. _Smiling_.

 

He's relieved. Maybe Jinyoung really was okay.

 

He walks over to sign Jinyoung out and the moment his attention is away from Heejin Jinyoung is there, grinning up at him in that way he has, and saying - "Appa, I had fun! And this is Jiwon and she's really nice and we're going to be friends."

 

"We're already friends," Jiwon informs him, matter-of-fact. "Hi, Jinyoung's-appa-ssi, I'm Hwang Jiwon."

 

"Hi, Jiwon," Minhyun says. "Jinyoung-ah, are you ready to go home?" Jinyoung frowns. "I mean, you are coming back tomorrow."

 

"Yeah, I guess. Bye Jiwon!"

 

"Bye, Jinyoung!" the girl calls as Minhyun and Jinyoung turn to leave.

 

"So this is Jinyoung," Jaehwan says. He had waited by the school gates for the two. Jinyoung seems surprised that this strange man not only knows his dad, but knows _him_ , and shrinks away a little, ducking his head behind Minhyun.

 

"It's okay, Jinyoungie," Minhyun reassures. "This is Jaehwan. I met him earlier today. We're just going to give him a ride home."

 

"Your appa told me a lot about you," Jaehwan jumps in. "He told me how awesome and brave you are." Minhyun looks down and Jinyoung has turned a little red. Cute. "Your appa is really cool."

 

This seems to bring out something in Jinyoung. "Appa isn't cool…" he argues softly.

 

"Yeah, he is. You'll see when you're older," Jaehwan says.

 

"Maybe I don't _want_ to be older."

 

This makes Minhyun laugh. This kid.

 

Minhyun helps Jinyoung into the backseat and gets into the car himself. Jaehwan, instead of talking at Minhyun, has decided to talk at Jinyoung instead. Minhyun has to remind Jaehwan to give him his address so he can put it in the GPS - Jaehwan does this himself, while still talking about cats to Jinyoung.

 

"So you have Daniel and Longguo, right, just trying to live their lives in one apartment with four cats between them, except Hyunbin and Kenta keep coming over all the time because they love cats as well and Hyunbin is determined to steal Tolbi from Longguo, apparently -"

 

"Wait," Minhyun interjects. "Kwon Hyunbin? He's a couple years younger?"

 

"Yeah! Do you know him?" Jaehwan asks.

 

"Yeah," mumbles Minhyun.

 

"But then you have Taehyun and Sanggyun who are both allergic, and…"

 

Yeah, he knows Hyunbin. Hyunbin, who Jonghyun had tutored in college. Hyunbin, who'd stayed with them for a week when his boyfriend kicked him out.

 

Hyunbin, who'd been at the funeral. Hyunbin, who'd offered to help.

 

Hyunbin, who Minhyun had pushed away.

 

It makes him feel like shit, honestly, and thank god they're at a stoplight and that Jaehwan notices pretty quickly.

 

"You okay?" There's a hand on his arm. "Hyung?"

 

"'M fine," Minhyun brushes it off. "Keep talking about the cats."

 

Jaehwan obviously isn't convinced, but Jinyoung is starting to make questioning sounds from the backseat, so Jaehwan continues. "And at the end of the day none of them ended up with permanent roommates and Taehyun just has to put up with the cats, he spends a fortune every month on Aleve, it's honestly kind of funny? Do you guys have any pets?" he tacks on after a second.

 

"No," Jinyoung replies. "I kind of want a fish, though."

 

"A fish? You should name it Nemo," Jaehwan mutters, laughing as though he's just been really clever. Minhyun has no idea what he's on about and just keeps driving.

 

They drop Jaehwan off at this really shady apartment building. "Today was nice," Jaehwan says as the car idles. "Uh, if you'd like to do it again - do you want my phone number?"

 

"Sure," says Minhyun, equally awkward. They exchange phones.

 

"It was nice meeting you too, Jinyoung," Jaehwan addresses the child in the back.

 

"You too, Jaehwan-ssi," Jinyoung answers, giving Jaehwan a shy smile.

 

Jaehwan turns to Minhyun and mouths, _he's adorable_ . Minhyun grins. _I know_.

 

Jaehwan finally gets out of the car, but something in Minhyun just says, fuck it, so he gets out quickly as well.

 

"Jaehwan!"

 

"Yeah, hyung?"

 

"If you - if you do end up needing a place to stay - and you don't want to bother your friends - text me. We have space." They'd never moved. They were two people living in a house meant for four.

 

"I'd… yeah. Yeah, okay."

 

They exchange smiles. And then Minhyun gets back in the car, and goes home.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [For You -- Never too Long](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13854018) by [Chegaris](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chegaris/pseuds/Chegaris)




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